Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller

The Thaw

2009

Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller

Synopsis

At a remote Arctic research station, four ecology students discover the real horror of global warming is not the melting ice, but what's frozen within it. A prehistoric parasite is released from the carcass of a Woolly Mammoth upon the unsuspecting students who are forced to quarantine and make necessary sacrifices, or risk infecting rest of the world

At a remote Arctic research station, four ecology students discover the real horror of global warming is not the melting ice, but what's frozen within it. A prehistoric parasite is released from the carcass of a Woolly Mammoth upon the unsuspecting students who are forced to quarantine and make necessary sacrifices, or risk infecting rest of the world

Cast

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by tomsview7 / 10

Heats up perfectly

If you have watched a lot of horror movies over the decades, especially all versions of "The Thing", you know that when you are in the Arctic or the Antarctic you just don't dig things out of the ice. It's nearly as dangerous as taking an alien pod on board your ship in deep space. It's the first step towards the end of mankind.

In this case a team of scientists investigating global warming, dig out a woolly mammoth and transport it to their remote lab in the Canadian Arctic.

Of course the mammoth, and a dead polar bear they also take back to the lab, are hosts to parasites that have been released as the arctic ice shrinks back. In the best tradition of the genre, the bugs lay eggs; lots of them. Well, Al Gore did warn us.

There is a bit of a backstory to the eight characters who find themselves in danger of infestation including the troubled relationship between Dr. Krupien (Val Kilmer) and his daughter Evelyn (Martha MacIsaac).

Although "The Thaw" met with generally icy reviews, I think by the middle it really starts to deliver the sort of frission you hope to get from this kind of film. There are a few predictable bits: the guy who is set on self-preservation at the expense of everyone else including his girlfriend, and those who nobly sacrifice themselves for the sake of the others, but as the tension mounts you forget the cinematic je devu.

The location on the tundra is superbly desolate, and although the special effects are not on the scale of a James Cameron movie, they produce more than one wince inducing scene – I'll never look at a meat cleaver the same way again.

"The Thaw" had me going quite a few times. It's a bit preachy on the global warming message, but you could do worse than track this one down, although it may make you think twice next time you go to pull a steak out of the freezer.

Reviewed by mich-leclair3 / 10

Beige

There is a dullness to this film that leaves one exhausted and somewhat irritated. The art direction is quite dull. The dialogue is repetitive to the point of being dull. The characters are extremely boring--one might even say dull. As a matter of fact, after viewing this, I had a tremendous urge to watch "Mr. BLANDings Builds his Dream House." Don't know why.

Honestly, after hearing the actors yak for about a half hour, I found myself saying aloud, "Oh why don't you shut up!"

Fans of poor choices will love this film. Others, not so much.

Reviewed by J Lowry1 / 10

Complete waste of time

I'm so glad I didn't have to pay to watch this mess. It was "offered" as a free video on demand option, gee I wonder why... All but a couple of the characters have zero redeeming qualities. Clearly Val Kilmer did it for the paycheck. I'm a big supporter of the "suspension of disbelief" factor of movies, but they went way over the line. There is no way Bart would have been able to be lucid and just physically able to help anyone after having his arm cut off with a meat cleaver. And no way would Evelyn be able to shoot down a helicopter with that antiquated rifle. Federico (who thought up THAT name??) was a way too stereotypical douchey frat bro, and Atom (again, THAT name??) is just flaccid. Edward kind of reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan. The dialogue was painful to listen to, I had to fast forward to preserve my sanity.